Lawrence Tierney and Wil Wheaton

[Dane_Whitman]

As you might remember, Lawrence Tierney played holographic gangster Cyrus Redblock in "The Big Goodbye". I was browsing on wikipedia and encountered a funny anecdote:

In 1988, Tierney played the role of a tough holodeck gangster in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In between scenes Tierney encountered the teenage Wil Wheaton on the steps outside Paramount Stage 16 and asked him if he played football. When Wheaton replied that he didn't, Tierney responded by saying "Why the hell not? What are you, some kind of sissy faggot?". When Wheaton replied that he was not strong enough to play football, Tierney said "Well, maybe you wouldn't be so weak if you played football!".

Maybe it's well-known, but I hadn't heard this before.

 

[T J]

Holy shit! Funniest thing I've read today! Thanks.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

As you might remember, Lawrence Tierney played holographic gangster Cyrus Redblock in "The Big Goodbye". I was browsing on wikipedia and encountered a funny anecdote:

In 1988, Tierney played the role of a tough holodeck gangster in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In between scenes Tierney encountered the teenage Wil Wheaton on the steps outside Paramount Stage 16 and asked him if he played football. When Wheaton replied that he didn't, Tierney responded by saying "Why the hell not? What are you, some kind of sissy faggot?". When Wheaton replied that he was not strong enough to play football, Tierney said "Well, maybe you wouldn't be so weak if you played football!".

Maybe it's well-known, but I hadn't heard this before.

Isn't that also mentioned in Wil Wheaton's review of "The Big Goodbye?" EDIT: Found it! Here's the quote from the review:

Behind the Scenes Memory: Lawrence Tierney, who played Cyrus Redblock, was infamous around Hollywood for having much in common with the tough guys he played in the movies. I had an encounter of my own with him just outside Stage 16 (affectionately known to all who worked there as Planet Hell) while we filmed this episode.

"Hey," he said to me one afternoon between scenes, "do you play football?"

I was 15 at the time, and weighed 95 pounds . . . if I was soaking wet and carrying a ten-pound weight.

"Uh, no," I said.

He leaned into me, menacingly.

"Why the hell not? What are you, some kind of sissy faggot?"

I panicked, certain that he was going to beat the shit out of me because I was more comfortable throwing 3d6 than a pigskin.

"I'm not strong enough to play football!" I said.

"Well, maybe you wouldn't be so weak if you played football!" he growled.

An assistant director arrived just in time to call us to the set and save me from certain death.
http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/07/11/star-trek-the-next-generation-the-big-goodbye/

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

THAT is a great find, I never read that either! VERY funny.

I mostly know Mr. Tierney from his Seinfeld appearance, where that was the whole joke of the episode, how super scary that dude was (the character. But now I guess the actor too!)

Poor Wil Weaton!

 

[shatastrophic]

I see him saying it to Wil like he did in Reservoir Dogs when he was telling the gang what their names would be! When I read this in his review i laughed for a long time!

 

[Kegek]

I mostly know Mr. Tierney from his Seinfeld appearance, where that was the whole joke of the episode, how super scary that dude was (the character. But now I guess the actor too!)

He's very good at it. Check out Born to Kill (directed by Robert 'TMP' Wise and co-stariing Elisha 'Samuel T. Cogley' Cook Jr.) sometime, a film made when Lawrence Tierney was in his prime, where he plays a rather cold-blooded murderer.

And he also appeared on DS9, in "Business as Usual", as a steely dictator who wanted to butcher millions of people. He's good at these sorts of roles...

 

[KingstonTrekker]

Ya, real funny. Homophobia is real funny.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Ya, real funny. Homophobia is real funny.

So is uptight political correctness.

 

[KingstonTrekker]

Try leaving your parents' basement for a few minutes each day and see the challenges faced by real-life minorities

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Try leaving your parents' basement for a few minutes each day and see the challenges faced by real-life minorities

Boy, I haven't lived in my parents' basement in decades.

As for the challenges faced by minorities: My heart bleeds, but how does some offhand comment by an actor affect any of that? Gimme a fucking break.

 

[Harvey]

Between this and the behind the scenes stories about his Seinfeld appearance, Tierney was crazy or a dick or both. But, judging from his Trek roles, Reservoir Dogs, and a few other things I've seen him in, that translated into something pretty fierce on screen.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm erring on the side of him being a dick here.

Wil Wheaton was a child actor working on a weekly television show. Given that he had to continue his school work at the same time, exactly how much time did Tierney think he would get to play sports ?

Tierney made a second Star Trek appearance in "Business as Usual" where, to be fair, he had just suffered a stroke and was struggling to remember his lines.

 

[22 Stars]

Try leaving your parents' basement for a few minutes each day and see the challenges faced by real-life minorities

Boy, I haven't lived in my parents' basement in decades.

As for the challenges faced by minorities: My heart bleeds, but how does some offhand comment by an actor affect any of that? Gimme a fucking break.

Dude, would it kill ya to admit that the F-word that this old crazy coot used was and is very offensive to millions of people. I can imagine how weird and off putting it must have been for Wil at the time. If he was gay, it could have been a very intimidating encounter for a kid at that age.

 

[Jax]

from what I read he pissed off many people on differents shows...

When he guest-starred on Seinfield (1990) in "The Jacket" episode as Elaine's father, Alton Benes, he scared the cast so badly that they never had him back on. He stole a butcher knife from Jerry's TV kitchen and hid it under his jacket. When Seinfeld confronted him about it (much to the dismay of the entire cast), Tierney made a stabbing motion towards Jerry as in reference to the movie Pyscho

During the production of Reservoir Dogs, Tierney's off screen antics both amused and disturbed the cast and crew. Director Quentin Tarantino told that he almost got in a fight with Tierney during the filming.

In The Simpsons he was named as the craziest guest star experience we ever had by the crew." In addition to yelling at and intimidating employees of the show, Tierney made unreasonable requests such as abandoning his distinctive voice to do the part in a southern accent and refusing to perform lines if he did not get the jokes.

The dude just sounds like one big ass Michael Dorn should of laid him out

 

[Green Shirt]

Try leaving your parents' basement for a few minutes each day and see the challenges faced by real-life minorities

Help us, Jesus.

 

[Tyberius]

Ya, real funny. Homophobia is real funny.

It isn't?

Humor is basically just Schadenfreude, or rather the deliberate apparent cultivation of misfortune which is set against a normal non-misfortune.

Basically anything bad can be found to be funny, or the images can be cultivated into humor.

 

[Hermiod]

from what I read he pissed off many people on differents shows...

During the production of Reservoir Dogs, Tierney's off screen antics both amused and disturbed the cast and crew. Director Quentin Tarantino told that he almost got in a fight with Tierney during the filming.

Tierney would have killed him.

 

[Doug Otte]

He's very good at it. Check out Born to Kill (directed by Robert 'TMP' Wise and co-stariing Elisha 'Samuel T. Cogley' Cook Jr.) sometime, a film made when Lawrence Tierney was in his prime, where he plays a rather cold-blooded murderer...

Eddie Muller, the commentator on the DVD of Born to Kill, recounted this anecdote (paraphrased from memory):

Muller accompanied Tierney at a noir film festival, because it was hard for the aging Tierney to walk. During an intermission, Tierney said, "I gotta piss." Tierney went with him to the men's room. While he was standing at a urinal, word got around that the legend was there, and soon a bunch of guys were staring at him. Tierney turned around and barked: "What? Are you trying to see my cock, you faggots?"

Doug

 

[Jack Bauer]

from what I read he pissed off many people on differents shows...

When he guest-starred on Seinfield (1990) in "The Jacket" episode as Elaine's father, Alton Benes, he scared the cast so badly that they never had him back on. He stole a butcher knife from Jerry's TV kitchen and hid it under his jacket. When Seinfeld confronted him about it (much to the dismay of the entire cast), Tierney made a stabbing motion towards Jerry as in reference to the movie Pyscho

During the production of Reservoir Dogs, Tierney's off screen antics both amused and disturbed the cast and crew. Director Quentin Tarantino told that he almost got in a fight with Tierney during the filming.

In The Simpsons he was named as the craziest guest star experience we ever had by the crew." In addition to yelling at and intimidating employees of the show, Tierney made unreasonable requests such as abandoning his distinctive voice to do the part in a southern accent and refusing to perform lines if he did not get the jokes.

The dude just sounds like one big ass Michael Dorn should of laid him out

Looks like he was a dick and an asshole.

 

[Keith1701]

Holy shit! Funniest thing I've read today! Thanks.

Holy Shit, Batman!!!! Very Funny